Clark Griswold

Recommend watching "Collapse" featuring the late Michael Ruppert. Rupoert had an interesting life, obviously was very intelligent and somewhat disturbed that ultimately led him to take his life and prior to that have some hospitalization for mental health. All that said, his thoughts on how & why an advanced economy could crash and the preparation of individuals or smaller, viable sections of the larger unsustainable whole were interesting.

Not an unlikely outcome but one most hope. Referencing the CPIP and some of it's main points with humble suggestions: http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/223/Article/633740/acc-charts-path-for-remote-aircrews-units.aspx - Approximately double the number of RPA flying squadrons. Concur - do that in the ARC with dual qual waivers galore, spreading the love and offer AD positions to give new choices to those assimilated by the Borg. - Create a new wing to normalize organizational and command and control structures relative to other weapon systems. - Standardize the squadron, group and wing structure. Concur - Assign RPA units in new locations to potentially include overseas locations. Concur: Recommend a new base in Poland, expand in Sigonella or to Aviano, and in the Pacific if we can just get the tip in, Australia. - Decrease the heavy burden of persistent in garrison combat operations by increasing RPA manning and associated resources by 2,500-3,500 Airmen. - Define career tracks for officer and enlisted RPA operators and maintainers. - Study the promotion and professional military education selection rates for RPA officers. - Study the feasibility of a single specialty code for RPA maintenance personnel. Concur - Streamline processes to better enable Reserve component forces to support the mission Concur x 2 - offer the mission with either dual qual or easy transition back and forth between manned and RPA quals (like 3 year tours then in-house requal in the manned platform) and there are a lot of ARC units / members that would direct Droids

Since Star Trek is turning 50 and this is decent list, Spock says... What you want your cake and eat it too? Every time zone on US soil with a Droid base, a GA companion aircraft for brief escapes to dance the skies on laughter silvered wings... that's not that hard to do Air Force.

Copy that. Aviation Week says it will be in the 30 ton payload class with 5000 HP motors, with a wider body than a Y-9 or the 130. http://aviationweek.com/defense/new-chinese-airlifter-could-enter-service-2020s I guess they passed on the An-70 with propfans for the benefit of their domestic aviation base development.

No doubt, saw an HC-27J a few months ago, looked good in Coastie colors but me still thinks the Guard should be flying it. There's a market and requirement for a common light tactical airlift in the US amongst the military & public safety agencies, ala the JCA. Forest service, CG, Military and with some of our usual friends, too bad we couldn't heard all the cats together to settle on one. Switching gears to Chinese airlift, saw the Y-30 concept, A400 clone or just inspired by?

Just the end of an arc, the naive dreams of baby boomers and the shitty leaders they have turned out to be is causing the discussion of what comes next, if comes to that. Hopefully not, I feel obliged to say that, but it might. I would rather see American Democracy prove more durable/reliable/responsive than the people currently running it. The original Colonies had a system of governance that worked and was satisfactory for the majority of its existence up until that point that it wasn't good enough anymore, things can change quickly and in unpleasant fashion when just the right conditions coincide, even with the trappings and comforts of modern life, people will only put up with so much. Ditto - for the Guard (Air and Army) if we really, really got concerned with breakdown in authority, building a military around the operational concept of dispersed basing (particularly for Aviation units) could be effective preparation if you really considered it possible (my WAG on that for the US is 1 chance in 10). If you're not physically, logistically and operationally tied to prepared bases and could legitimately operate from ad hoc bases set up on roads, parking lots, fields, etc.. you can survive when the lights and phones don't work anymore. Dispersing is a defensive strategy but just being able to operate could be the advantage, still has a big logistics tail but still impressive.

I wish I could refute your prediction but if you look at the track record of the AF and in the criteria for basing FTUs (remote, desolate and likely to induce binge drinking) that is probably it. I would humbly offer for discussion and suggestion Kirkland AFB, NM for a schoolhouse and MCE campus with LRE and MX on aircraft training done at an out base, in my plan I would offer an off site location at KGNT, Grants-Milan airport. A little shorter than 8k (7100) but that could be fixed / waived and the students (11X types that will continue to get assigned to RPAs) get to fly a GA aircraft to LRE events (only 50 NM away), 18Xs are along for the ride too. KGNT is well away from the Class C airspace and human civilization but still close to the ranges. Kirkland has plenty of playmates for the syllabus to train with and while Albequerque is not perfect, it beats the F out of Clovis. QOL improved by decent location, low cost manned flying mission attached at least to the FTU, FTU collected with other MWS's and Ranges for training - not perfect location but not bad either.

Delta Hotel

No. The problems the shoe clerks have created are now coming home to roost and in typical fashion, rather than just doing what needs to be done and write a big enough check, admit their mistakes and CHANGE when conditions warrant it they prefer to put the lash to force, deny their is a problem and give each other a high five when the system some how manages to creak along. So flying that third line for a few months is going to somehow overcome years and years of getting deeper and deeper into the hole? The number varies but let's settle on 700 fighter pilots that the USAF is short of, I would say to get a fighter pilot with the right experience and knowledge they want it takes 3 to 4 years, as a heavy pilot my knowledge is limited but as a WAG but seems reasonable. Now let's say they could get by with only filling 500 of the 700 cockpits/shelters/staff positions, so you need 500 x 4 or 2,000 man-years of MPA orders, that comes to about $352 million, or a little more than 2 F-35A Joint Shit Fighters or fly 400 heavy aircraft 40 hours less per year over 4 years and you will get the savings to pay for it. Re-program the money after doing your mea culpa to Congress and fix this. A 4 year statutory order will attract takers; long enough for a lot of them to get 7305+ points, under 5 years to assert USERRA and if you throw a bonus for those 4 years at 25K, you will get the 11Fs you need immediately all the while you are executing Operation Get Well on 11Fs, surging UPT / IFF / FTU and returning all 11Fs you can get out of the RPA career field without destroying that too. This is a complicated web to unravel without causing harm in another area at the same time but Big Blue putting its money where its mouth is and using the resources it has, ARC Fighter Pilots to solve the immediate problem while working like a crazy man to solve the long term problem is the only way to get this done. No guilt trip speeches or High Velocity Analysis efforts, just commit the resources and get it done.

From another thread, it was brought up to spread the love from Guam to Puerto Rico to eliminate the needs for mid-shifts. The article says you have to have another flying mission there already, to be considered for these new bases, open up: Anderson, Hickam, C-Springs (associate unit), Ft. Worth (tenant unit on the NAS), Dobbins (new or moved Reserve unit), Shaw (new or moved unit with the possibility of dual qual aggressor AT-38 for a long tour there) and a new unit in Puerto Rico. All of these new or moved units should be pulled from Creech, it is a cancer eating at the morale of the AF. Follow on - for the new wing/groups at a bases without an MQ-9 presence currently, select Beale and Moody for new operations. Basing for the RPA community needs to follow a few guidelines: QOL is huge as the job can be soul crushing and causes low retention. Geographical spread is important to cover the 24 hour Z day without having to operate from 2100 - 0500 local. Sovereign US soil is probably to the best solution (not the only) to avoid the controversy of RPA kinetic operations.

Sorry - should have been clear, that was just a continuation on the tangent of inputting this into an exercise (breakdown in civilian authority).

Yup - can you depend on your soldiers/airmen/sailors/marines? Were they paid? What is the political leaning of their commander? Does Intel suspect they cold be flipped?

Valid. Of late the threat of an EMP still seems plausible but the Cyber attack possibility of incapacitating the government for some period of time is getting more real or Cyber manipulation / blackmail, real or manufactured. This could be an interesting inject from White Cell in Military / LE exercise practicing DOMOPs - your first world AOR just became loosely / not governed, proceed.

Yeah but we swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution - my pontificating is trying to "formalize" how to tell when our pols are code 3 and we (the military) may have to act independently to uphold our oath - I am thankfully confident this has a low chance of ever happening but beyond the discussion of not obeying illegal orders how could the civilian government set boundaries that if it crossed (written before a governance crisis) that the military could act not to run the country but to restore conditions so a civilian authority could reestablish order? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No argument on that, as it is done at sea I think in some ways it is an out of sight out of mind thing for why the CG doesn't get the resourcing it needs.

I could have used a better verb than tempted, forced would have been better and by forced I mean it is absolute chaos in the streets, we are being threatened by foreign enemies trying to use the chaos to attack, the civilian government is non-functional, etc... I mean a real emergency. We would never be the same nation again, but at least the nation would survive in a new form, for the better probably not. On the subject of GOFOs participating in politics in retirement, not for or against but it does seem to be unseemly. I think that is really a product of the opinion of our elected representatives and the esteem the public holds the military and particularly high ranking military officers, rightly or wrongly. We know that democracy is of a transactional nature vice a system where individuals hold true to their principals but find some common ground with their opponents and manage to compromise accordingly and get things done. These transactions are where the sausage is made and it's not pretty, now imagining these esteemed individuals in that business just seems wrong... True, the military doing anything but standing guard will be crossing the Rubicon but what if there is no choice? That is question, where is that line? It has to exist somewhere but it is just very very far away from where we are now or probably (hopefully) ever will be.

Good, anything can happen and a Plan B has to be ready. I don't know why but sometimes when you discuss the unlikely but possible with some people on issues of basic stability of American governance and politics they just want to blow it off like it could never happen here, no we have a good history of stability but shit can get wacky real fast. This is not that far fetched (death and disruption to American politics during an election), the assignation of RFK is not directly analogous as the primary was still underway but it likely had a radical effect as the 1968 Democratic Convention might / likely would not have been such a disaster and he quite possibly could have defeated Nixon. No political wishful thinking there as I lean right but as the election between Humphrey and Nixon was tight in the popular vote, 43.4% to 42.7% (wiki), RFK might have closed that gap. Had he been POTUS versus Nixon, history would likely be much different... What I think is more likely to cause a political crisis and foment the idea of American Military involvement in American domestic politics is an accusation the Executive is not faithfully executing the laws vis a vis inaction on illegal immigrations and accusations of an "Executive Amnesty" - whether real or perceived. So far, no one has made that case beyond posturing but if it were made in Congress by an article of impeachment, especially if we saw an major influx of illegal immigrants, persons / family units requesting amnesty along with fast / questionable efforts to naturalize persons not lawfully present in the USA, etc... I think this would quickly precipitate a crisis as one side of American politics would see it (rightly IMO) as an existential threat to their political representation by the other side illegally trying to skewer the American electorate by importing new voters / supporters and then pushing to minority political status their opponents... That's not to say it would go to a full boil so quickly the military would need / be tempted to intervene but it does set the stage...

True US-2 would be cool, surprised the Coasties never tried to acquire it or a similar aircraft Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why do they get all those wonderful toys? http://www.janes.com/article/63341/china-and-ukraine-agree-to-restart-an-225-production

That would be my desire also, if the Speaker of the House succeeded the POTUS our democracy would get about 10x stronger if he/she agreed to only one year and declare they would resign allowing for another round of political kabuki theatre known as a modern Presidential election. An emulation of Washington's example of walking away from power for the good of the Republic.

Not on the role of the military in a Civil War but a good article on a potential situation that might get a Civil War discussed in mainstream political discussion and could lead to factions in the military arising: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-30/candidate-death-could-delay-or-eliminate-presidential-election There are good mechanisms in place for succession of a candidate legally and by policy of the political parties it seems but if one of the candidates did die mid-campaign either by assignation or suspect circumstances, real or perceived, what does the military do if a significant body of the one branch of the government basically claims the election is a fraud by the death of their candidate, the process of election decided upon after that death and the result thereof? I am thinking Congress in mass by political party refusing to accept the result if the Executive and/or Judicial moved to a special election procedure, if all the members of one party just refused to meet for a quorum to be made and would not accept that decision, backed by their respective state legislatures, we could be on the road to becoming Barter Town. Does the military step in at that point for national security of borders, strategic deterrence, national cohesion?

I think we are like this dog, we got stuck in a shithole ( the ME in general and specifically the Sunni-Shia proxy war(s) ) and can't find a good way out... If we pull out (sts) Al Assad, Russia and Iran win. If we stay, we have to commit a lot of resources (lives, money, time, effort, etc.) that will probably not get a win, but merely an acceptable end state, whatever the hell that is exactly we don't even know. CATO institute opinion on the matter, decent opinion piece: http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/its-time-admit-american-intervention-cant-fix-syria

Valid - the discipline to regress to lower automation has to be instilled and enforced. If I were king, every flying wing would have access to an aircraft like this for basic airmanship skill building and maintenance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aermacchi_M-290_RediGO AMC was my first MAJCOM also so I know what you are talking about. Referencing the above fantasy program of a low cost, recip powered, acro capable light trainer - that is something that could help dudes whose flight hours are probably 75% autopilot time (yours truly included in that also) but AMC and the AF don't see it that way. Unless there was some demonstrated need, basically a rash of accidents, they would never allow an ACE program, even a watered down one that is budgetary peanuts, ever happen again. What you saw is what is the most easily observable problem in the culture of the AF or an aspect of "the problem" - the belief that the administration / management of the AF is either indicative of military leadership potential or the performance of military leadership. Not true as the titles to the job sound like the performance of military duties (mission execution, military leadership, etc...) but in reality are almost all mundane duties of paperwork, meaningless regulation compliance assurance, and exercise with the sole intention of just looking busy / productive. I am digressing into a stream of consciousness riff probably better suited for the "What's wrong with the AF thread?" but I suspect that in the heavy community the respect for flying skills / airmanship is not necessarily low but just secondary to office politics and the infatuation with office work proficiency. Not sure about the CAF and SOF flying world as I have not served an assignment there, worked with them, but not a full 3 year tour to give me enough first hand knowledge to make a semi-informed opinion but I suspect that as the likelihood they will be in harm's way is more often, it gives them more focus, not a slight of the MAF, just my opinion. As to crossflow for fighters for a heavy driver if you are offered and you want it, go for it, don't look back 10 years later and regret not trying. If I were in the position of someone who could apply I would. You have to make the right call for you and your family but if you want to, don't just think about all the shit that can go wrong, think of the shit that might go right. Be honest with yourself and consider your ability to pass all the schools you will have to attend but worse than the self-imposed, unnecessary shame a lot of Type A personalities will impose on themselves if they fail at something is WAY less than the shame of not doing or going for something that you wanted and when life gave you the chance to go for it, you passed because you were afraid of the stigma of possible failure so you did not even try. Just my 2 cents, I have no skin in this game but an opinion worth what you paid for it.